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When Major League Baseball expanded in 1969, Commissioner William Eckert announced Kansas City as the recipient of an American League franchise. The league chose local pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman as team owner. Kauffman’s 25 years in charge of the Royals featured innovation off of the diamond and success on it.

Drawing from one of baseball’s smallest markets, Kauffman took a successful regional approach to attract fans. He sent the team’s bus caravan throughout Missouri and to Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and Arkansas.

During a time when multipurpose stadiums were in vogue, Kauffman went against the grain. He oversaw the construction of Royals Stadium, the sole baseball-only big league venue built between 1962 and 1991.

As a tip of the cap to Kansas City’s “City of Fountains” moniker, the stadium features 10-foot high fountains that stretch 322 feet along the outfield. That and the 12-story scoreboard in the shape of a crown are the stadium’s identifying features.

Once Royals Stadium opened in 1973, Kauffman made sure the fans packed it. In each of the 21 years at the stadium under Kauffman’s ownership the team drew at least a million fans. In 16 of those seasons the team drew 1.75 million or more; 11 times they drew at least 2 million.

Kauffman also built a winning club. Despite growing pains as an expansion franchise, he quickly made the team competitive. By their third season the Royals won 85 games and finished second in their division. In 1975 they broke the 90-win plateau.

The Royals then began a decade of dominance. From 1976-1985, Kansas City reached the postseason 7 times. The run included six trips to the ALCS, two appearances in the Fall Classic, and the 1985 World Series title.

Kauffman was a hero in Kansas City. In 1993, Royals Stadium was renamed in his honor. The same year the 76-year old Kauffman was inducted into the team Hall of Fame. He passed away that August.

In November, 2007 Kauffman was included on the Veterans Committee ballot where he fell one vote short of election to the Hall of Fame. The founder of the Kansas City Royals, Ewing Kauffman’s mark on the game and city he loved remains indelible.

In the collection is this index card signed by Kauffman.

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Frank White’s road to big league baseball was as unlikely as any player who’s ever made it. His Lincoln High School in Kansas City didn’t field a baseball team. Unable to play in a prep league, White turned to the area’s amateur leagues.

In 1970 White White went for a tryout at team owner Ewing Kauffman’s Kansas City Royals Academy. Kauffman preferred only unmarried players at the academy. Wedded and already with an infant son, the 19-year old White believed he would be cut.

According to Richard Bogovich’s SABR biography on White, things quickly worked out.

“White was crushed when he also overheard that the plan was to send only unmarried players to the academy. White was married, and he and his wife, Gladys, had a baby, Frank III. When his tryout concluded, he thought his baseball playing days were over.

“ ‘Then, something that only happens in movies happened to me,’ White’s 2012 autobiography says. ‘Later that day, I was at my parents’ house and I hear this commotion outside. I look out the window and there is a big blue limo parked in front of our house.’ It was Kauffman’s, but the owner wasn’t in it. He didn’t send it to take White somewhere; he only wanted to speak with White on the limousine’s car phone (decades before there were such things as cell phones). ‘I’d never talked on a phone in a car before – I didn’t even know there was anything like that – and we started our conversation,’ the book says. Kauffman said another married player, catcher Art Sanchez, agreed to attend the academy, and Kauffman would give Frank’s wife, Gladys, a job in the camp’s ticket office if that would enable White to enroll. White replied that he’d need to discuss the offer with his wife and parents first, and soon agreed.”

The gamble paid off. White became one of the most important players in team history. On July 31, 2004 a statue of White was unveiled at Royals Stadium.

White’s page on the Royals Hall of Fame official website reads, “Playing the game with unmatched style and grace, White became one of the greatest second basemen in baseball history. He was a two-time Royals Player of the Year and a five-time All-Star. He was the first American League second baseman to ever collect eight Gold Gloves. Renowned for defensive excellence, White was a complete player. He hit .545 in the 1980 American League Championship Series to win MVP honors, and he batted cleanup and led all players with six RBI in the 1985 World Series.”

Shown here is a document transferring White from Single-A San Jose to Double-A Jacksonville on June 3, 1972. He made his MLB debut a year and ten days later. White’s signature is seen in blue pen in the middle of the document.